Child of the Serpent
by Chickahominy Creek
Summary: Two hundred years have passed since meteor fell and demons have overrun the Planet. The old heros are long gone--or are they? And it seems like several gods are suddenly very interested in human affairs... VincentOC
1. Avalir: Lady of Wutai

DL Noleek

Child of the Serpent

Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Final Fantasy VII

Chapter 1: Avalir, Daughter of Wutai

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The people of Wutai have a way of life that is worth dying for.   
Their lives revolve around honor, trust, and discipline; traits  
rarely found in today's world. Yet they are also irksome, for   
they are like weeds--every time you think you have brought   
them to their knees, they just spring right back up again, just   
to make you life hell.

-Reno of the Turks  
A letter to President Rufus  
after a mission to Wutai

Lir's arms buckled as she felt the full weight of her brother's sword clash against her twin fans, the force of the blow pushing her backwards. She grinned--this was a common strategy of his. He would try to push her back into a corner and simply use his greater strength to his advantage. It did make sense, Lir's weaker, female body could not possibly stand up to a mountain of male muscle twice her weight, but then again, Shinn seemed to forget that when it came to battling an experienced fighter, there were other factors to consider.

He never learned.

With well practiced grace, Lir moved fluidly to the left, making sure that her right fan was there for the block that came crashing down on it before swinging her body around her brother's and bringing her left fan arching across his unprotected back. She heard her brother cry out in pain, but she didn't let that stop her from finishing the blow--a well-placed half-moon kick finished the job and brought him down.

She had originally planned on ending the match there by removing Shinn's sword, but before she brought down her right fan to disarm him, she hesitated slightly, barely holding back a grin from her face. It was too early for the fight to end yet, not when she had just started. She was just beginning to feel that familiar tingle…h

As Lir had suspected, Shinn took the bait, sweeping into a low spin kick that she happily evaded by jumping backwards. Her brother wasted no time by charging at her, sword drawn. Once again, Lir felt metal hit metal as two pairs of cool emerald eyes met and locked. Shinn's entire body was shaking and sweat was pouring down his body in tiny pools. He would tire soon, but he would put up a fight--not that she cared.

The harder her twin hit, the stronger the rebound would be. Already, Lir was able to feel the power of an upcoming break as it surged through her veins in a red-hot fire; strength, speed, endurance, and agility slowly rose to their peak. The heady feeling itself was nearly enough to send her over the edge.

Shinn managed to get one more hit in, a strike to her left thigh, before Lir released all of her pent up energy. Red power circled around her like a tempest wind, lifting her braided hair off of her back. She could feel her senses sharpening. Her eyes narrowed as Shinn's form suddenly came into sharp focus behind the red wave. She could now smell the sweat dripping off of her and her opponent, could hear the rough pant of his breathing. The ethereal wind whirling around her was satin to her newly sensitized skin and it was causing the thin hairs on her arms to rise in anticipation.

And then she was off.

With a burst of speed, she dashed toward her brother, both fans unfurled and shining with a deadly glint. To her, the hits were no faster than her normal attack, but she knew from personal experience that to anyone who was watching, the quick slashes and thrusts were no more than a blur. In rapid motion, Lir alternated between throwing her fans and slashing with them, each attack hitting its mark on Shinn's body.

Her break was over in under a minute, but it need not have been any longer; Shinn was already on the ground with his sword lowered, taking in huge gulps of air. Lir lowered her fans. She was quite proud of the break, for it had taken forever for her to learn the quick footsteps and aerobatics that were required to perform it. It had been well worth it.

Soft clapping sounded from behind her and Lir immediately turned to greet their audience, who she knew had been waiting for them to finish. "Did you enjoy the performance Father?" Lir asked softly.

Lir's father, Lord Niragai Kisaragi, had been Wutai's leader for well over forty years and although he was advancing in years, he still held all the power he did in his youth--and more. His black hair, now streaked with gray, was tied back, giving all who dared a clear look at his slate gray eyes; a pair of hard orbs that were now focused on his two children. He moved toward them with a fluid grace, the limp in his right leg from an old war scar barely perceptible.

Lord Kisaragi's eyes bored into his daughter's unmercifully and for a moment, the two stood rooted in their own silent battle, but then, Niragai's face broke into a smile and he reached out to stoke his only daughter's cheek affectionately. "Well Avalir, you do your old man proud."

"Thank you, Father." Her father's hand left her cheek and she immediately took a step back to retract the blades of her fans; even as Lord Niragai's daughter, carrying an unsheathed weapon outside of battle was forbidden.

"And you," Niragai said, turning to his son, "what have you to say for yourself? This must be the third time she's beaten you this week." The lord's voice was cold, but Lir could see the mirth sparkling behind his eyes and soon found herself struggling to hold back a small giggle.

Shinn rose from his place on the ground and repeating his sister's earlier action, he sheathed his weapon, massaging his wrist a little once the sword was safely tucked away. "Actually, I think that may very well be the fifth time she's beaten me this week, not that it shames me any--you lost to her twice in a row yesterday."

Lir beamed under the praise, but didn't allow herself to show it. What both of them had failed to mention was the fact that either of them could mop the floor with her any day of the week; she only won the occasional bout and couldn't help but wonder if there were times when they let her win. It was very likely, but it didn't matter much--she was one of the strongest women in Wutai and no warrior could deny that Lord Kisaragi had raised /two/ powerful fighters.

"I am glad that you were able to come and see our match, Father," Lir said. "I hope that you found it up to your standards."

The lord smiled somewhat sadly and shook his head. "It was very nice Lir, but I'm afraid I didn't come down here just to see my two children. Unfortunately, I have some news for Shinn."

Lir's brother moved to stand before their father, his eyes losing their warmth and turning cold; he was moving out of the form of Shinn Kisaragi and into that of Wutai's Master of Arms. Lir grimaced--there had been another demon attack.

"Where," her twin asked, his thoughts moving along the same lines as hers.

"Along the shore," Naragai said sullenly. "Our watchman spotted a hoard of ships heading toward the north side of the beach about two hours ago. They've already sacked Talgurai; we haven't received word of the number of losses yet, but the watchman said that the demons that came were Daracon, so you can bet that the casualties were high."

Shinn winced and Lir gave him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. Daracons were nasty creatures--man-like beings with green scales, no hair, huge bodies, and bat-like wings. It took very little effort for one of their kind to tear a human to pieces. Unfortunately, they were also some of the more intelligent demons. They worked in groups, small armies led by a single leader. "Looks like our practice session is over, Lir. I'll take care of the invaders immediately Father, and don't worry, I'll be back before dinner." He offered them both a confident smile; going out to fight again didn't bother him in the least.

/How can he possibly remain so calm?/ Lir thought. /It doesn't even unsettle him that there is a small hoard of demons at our doorstep right now who would just love to tear every man, woman, and child in this city to pieces./ Then again, Shinn was always calm, forever steady--maybe it came with the role of Master of Arms. It was a role that for all of Wutai's leaders eventually led to emperor. Almost all of Wutai's rulers had at some point in time, been the leader of the country's army and right hand to the emperor. Shinn was no exception, just as Naragai before him. It was all part of the chain of command and Lir had no doubt that once Father passed on, Shinn would make a fine emperor and his son, whenever he married and settled down, would be at the head of his army.

And she would forever be serving tea in the palace and working in the medical buildings--not that she ever complained. It was her place and so long as she could help in some way, Lir was more than content to leave the role of leader to her father and brother, although she would have liked to fight beside them…

Shinn was already moving from the practice room and into the hall that lead to his private chambers, shedding practice pads and armor as he went, leaving it for the servants to pick up later. Normally, he preferred to do that himself, but time was of the essence and he could not afford to spare a moment when he had to summon the city's warriors.

Lir, glancing at the discarded gear, shrugged carelessly, and plucked up the garments to quickly stow them in the nearby storeroom. They hadn't gotten the armor from there--although there was other practice gear in that particular room--but she too didn't have time to put them away either. She just didn't like leaving it on the ground and Shinn would need her help preparing for the upcoming battle, war armor being too heavy and too complicated to put on by oneself.

The halls of Wutai castle had expanded in the years since Wutai had achieved restoration after the fall of Meteor. The complex had nearly tripled in size and a second, third, and fourth level had been added to conserve space. The main floor hadn't changed since it had been built with the exception of the battle room that had been added in back. Her ancestors had insisted on such preservation. The second floor was used mainly as a meeting area; there were several rooms with nothing more in them but several pallets, chairs, and tables that would make visitors comfortable. There was also a library and study on that floor that had been added by her grandfather. The third floor was dedicated entirely to the comfort of the royal family, each member having their own space to themselves, which usually consisted of a bedroom and perhaps a sitting room. The fourth floor was reserved for the servants quarters and the kitchen; it was several small hallways branching off into tiny cubicle rooms. As with the first floor of the house, the newer additions also had several passageways, many of which the servants used--or curious children with nothing better to do than spy on their elders. Being one of those children herself, Lir knew every nook and cranny of the palace, though it had been frustrating as a child when she had encountered a dead end. There was nothing like following a passage for ten minutes only to find that it stopped quite abruptly at a wooden wall.

Lir set to following Shinn up to his private rooms on the third floor, just a few steps down the hall from her own. Her brother's chambers were a cave in comparison. Where her rooms had several windows that let in light throughout the day, Shinn's room had none. His walls were covered in thick draperies of crimson and black coupled with several examples of Wutai's best swords that would be imposing to any unfriendly visitors. Lir had avoided the place at all costs when she was younger.

Now, Lir followed Shinn into the room without complaint, as she was lead to the heavy red, battered, armor that hung from a stand in the corner near a mirror. Shinn immediately began his preparations, ignoring Lir as he began to strip down to nothing but his underthings in front of the mirror.

Lir had long since ceased to be embarrassed. Seeing as her brother had no wife as of yet, it was up to her to get him armored from head to toe. Besides, she saw worse in the medical wards when men came back from battle bleeding and torn.

Not for the first time, she stopped to stare at the reflections in the glass as she came up behind Shinn. Father had once said that they both looked exactly like their mother; Lir had never disagreed. Both of them had long, glossy, black locks with a tint of blue that fell to mid-back when down--a raven's colors. Two pairs of sharp, almond-shaped, jade eyes stared back at her from the mirror, bright orbs set above prominent cheek bones, sharp noses, sensuous mouths, and narrow chins. Their builds were light, like those of a dancer or acrobat; a deceptive trait that often led to their advantage in a fight when opponents underestimated the waif-like duo.

The features were quite striking in Shinn, any female in the palace would readily attest to that. It wasn't that those same features made Lir seem ugly, it was just that they made her seem colder than the soft feminine curves men wished to stare at all night. She never let it bother her; what use had she for soft beauty? Soft beauties didn't find themselves ankle deep in the blood of their people after the fighting was over. They didn't sew up sword wounds, didn't set broken bones, and could never possibly staunch the blood flowing from a gaping hole in the body.

"What disturbs you Lir?" Lir jumped as Shinn's voice penetrated her senses. He had already changed into the soft silks that would go beneath his armor and was now staring at her through the mirror, his green eyes soft and full of concern.

"Sorry, Shinn. I wasn't thinking about anything really, just dozing I guess."

"Are you sure?" he said incredulously. "You're quieter than you usually are. You said nary a word to Father when he mentioned the demon attack." He paused, his face lightening. "Is that what has disturbed you?"

She was about to tell him again that it was nothing, but instead found her train of thought leading her elsewhere due, perhaps, in part to his remark. "Be careful Shinn. Something about this isn't right."

/And just where did that come from! Are you turning into a prophetess now Avalir?/

Apparently, Shinn shared the thought. "Since when are you worried about a demon attack!" He seemed to visibly relax, having found the root of the problem. "Demons are common enough around here nowadays. We've held out this long, we'll hold out again."

/And therein lies the problem. We have held out this long; who else has?/

"Why /have/ we held out so long, brother? Why when everyone else has fallen?" There it was and it sounded just as forlorn aloud as it did in her head. It hadn't occurred to her earlier, but it must have been something that had been plaguing her mind because getting the words off her chest made her feel a great deal better.

"So, what is that supposed to prove, Lir?" Shinn moved away from the mirror and began pulling the greaves off of the armor stand. "Junon is still holding steady last I checked and so are Nibelhiem, Cosmo Canyon, Fort Condor, and Corel, though I'll admit, the last couple may not be standing for much longer. As long as we keep fighting, we can keep these remaining cities alive. Besides, what else can we do? If we don't fight, we die, end of story." It was a pedantic speech; Lir absently thought that he sounded like their father. This is how it is--endpoint.

Getting into an argument with Shinn, especially before a battle, was entirely useless; men who were worried, riled, and anxious got hurt. Instead, Lir lifted the plate armor off of the stand and placed it over her brother's head to settle it as comfortably as possible on his shoulders. After she strapped on the chest plate, she went for the shoulder pads, tying the complicated knots so that the pads would slide easily along the upper portion of the mail. Shinn's armor was made of overlapping fire dragon scales, a shield that was damn hard to break, even with a Daracon's claw.

/So then why do I feel as if I should stop him? No, just get it out of your head…/

The armor was on within moments and it seemed like all to soon before Shinn was lifting his sword from the rack and placing it at his belt, his helmet under his arm. Before leaving, he turned quickly to Lir, lifting her chin with his finger to raise her eyes to his.

"Don't worry little sister. I'll be back by morning tomorrow at the latest--have faith."

Lir gave him a small obeisant bow. She attempted to keep her face straight, but she could still hear her voice quiver when she spoke. "I wish I were going with you."

Shinn smiled at that, his kind eyes taking her in and holding her close. "Sometimes I must agree, but it is not your place." With that, he turned and marched out the door, back straight, shoulders back, step even--every inch the soldier.

Lir had remained in her twin's quarters for several more minutes before returning to the first floor, heading towards the shrine near the back of the palace.

As she reached the bottom of the stairs she stopped, as she always did, to admire the painting that lay at their foot. It was that of a young woman. Her short, black hair was loose and waving in wind that had been forever captured by the hand of the artist. She wore a simple armor: gauntlets, a shoulder guard, and a couple of braces. There was a deadly looking shuriken in her right hand. It was her great-grandmother, Yuffie Kisaragi, leader of the Wutai people and savior of the Planet. It was her that had restored the country to its former glory--and then some. Rumor had it that she had been a wild one, but no one would know that from the painting. Yuffie's face was firm and hard, her muscles taunt as if ready for battle. It was an imposing figure, but if one looked closely, it was possible to catch the glint in her gray eyes and the slight smirk on her face; a wild spirit to the end.

Lir would have killed to be half of what she had been, to see the world with her own two eyes. /Yeah, keep dreaming. The demons will vanish before that happens./

Lir sighed and continued on her way, weaving through the hallways until she was only a few steps from the shrine's entrance. She stopped at the doorway and removed her sandals, stepping onto the tatami floor with bare feet. She wasn't surprised to find the room already occupied.

"Has he gone," her father asked, not glancing up from his prayers.

"Yes, he left a while ago," Lir replied sullenly. "Are you sure I couldn't…"

"No, we need you here." It was a hard rebuke, but it was no more than she expected. This was not the first time that she had tried to push her father into letting her fight with the front lines.

/Maybe…/

"Father, I'm better than most of the men you have out there, you've said so yourself! Why can't you let me protect my homeland?" A shaky response, but reasonable.

It still didn't slide. "Because it is not where you belong, Lir. There are no women that…"

"What about Yuffie? She fought alongside Avalanche, she took control of Wutai, she…"

Her father rounded on her with such vehemence that she nearly recoiled. "Yuffie was a pugnacious child who took on a role because no one else would! You are not in the same position, Lir! You have a brother and father who care about you and this country! I do not question that Lady Yuffie was a good leader, but what she did was done out of necessity and it's not something you should try to repeat."

He stopped suddenly, as if finally realizing that his voice had risen above acceptable decibels. Niragai's face softened as he looked on his daughter with more kindness and drew her into his arms in a gesture of protection. Lir swallowed the lump in her throat. "War is a nasty thing daughter. It kills everything, from the people to the land they live on. It is one thing to play at fighting within these walls, but quite another to kill in the heat of battle. I know, and accept, the fact that I may lose Shinn to this slaughter, but I will no loose my only daughter too."

/Perhaps…/

Lord Kisaragi stepped away, looking at his daughter with utmost fondness. "Do you understand, Lir, why I will not allow you to go?"

"Yes, Father." /But I do not necessarily agree./

"Good. I must go now, Lir. I have other things to attend to. I hope that I shall not have to hear of this anymore?"

"Of course not," Lir replied evenly. She would hold her peace, as she always had.

Author's Commentary: I think that this may be the first time I have written a story without a prologue. That's strange. I never really realized it before, but there it is. I like where this story is going and I have some good things planned for it. On another note, I picked out the name Avalir (Lir for short) randomly out of my head, but some unresistable curiosity told me to research the name. My findings revealed that the first part of the name, Ava, is Iranian for sound, or "water." The second part, Lir, is a shortened name of the Irish god of the sea, Llyr. Lir is also considered a guy's name. It's ironic, because the name fits her character, as all readers will see in later chapters. Freaky.

I like reviews (most especially constructive criticism), so don't hesitate to leave a few.


	2. Demon Strike

DL Noleek

Child of the Serpent

Chapter 2: Demon Strike

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII, but all the original characters are mine.

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We can not watch as the world passes us  
because we must live within the world of   
our own making. If we do nothing about our  
circumstances, then we are doomed to suffer  
the consequences of idleness, even as society  
and other outside forces constrain us.

Yuffie Kisaragi, Ruler of Wutai  
and former member of Avalanche,  
"A Biography: After Crisis"

The afternoon found Lir atop the watchtower at the top of the palace, eating a late lunch of rice and dried fish. The city of Wutai was spread out before her, a blanket of gray rooftops connected by several waterways that meandered their way between the residences and shops. Despite the heat of the afternoon sun, people were out and about. Hawkers selling fruit, baskets, fish, meat, rice, and other items filled the open-air market several streets from the tower. Shops along the road were opened for business and were just waiting for customers to come storming in, which they were--in hoards. It was the beginning of the week and thus there was no reason to be shocked at the shear volume of people out on the streets.

Despite the excitement on the ground, however, Lir remained downcast. Shinn had promised to be back by morning at the latest and it was now late afternoon the next day. Father had told her countless times not to worry, but that hadn't stopped her from climbing the tower to keep a look out for him. Shinn was a strong man and a leader amongst her people and therefore he should be able to take care of himself; it still didn't comfort her. Something in the back of her mind had been screaming at her to escape from the city last night and run to her brother's aid.

It shouldn't have been a big deal--Shinn had been gone as long, and longer, before and that's what she kept telling herself. By Holy, it had virtually become a mantra!

/But it doesn't help for me to tell myself that he's okay. / She thought uneasily. /I think that even Father was worried after the sun rose. It is unusual for a siege nearby to last so long, albeit not impossible. /

No matter what she thought, though, there was nothing she could do but sit in her tower and eat her lunch, keeping her eyes peeled for the approaching army beyond the wall. She wouldn't know where to find them even if she /did/ decide to go after them.

Finally, as the sun began to set, Lir spotted the returning regiment beyond the city's gates. She jumped from her perch, wincing slightly at the cramps that had formed in her legs from sitting for so long. Cramps were the least of her worries; she was determined to meet Shinn at the palace's entrance as well as any warriors that had been injured. Lir grabbed her medical bag from where it had been sitting and flung open the door beneath her, ducking beneath the slab of wood just as it closed above her with a loud bang.

She ran as fast as she could to the front entrance on the first floor, cursing the flowing robes that were inhibiting her. Damn, but it was an inconvenience to wear the heavy silk garments when she wasn't fighting. Lir passed several servants on her way down, noting that many of them were carrying bandages and basins of water from the kitchen, which was good; she was sure those supplies would be needed. War was indeed a bloody thing.

Lir strode into the entranceway with the air of a princess of Wutai--a demeanor she quickly lost upon the sight greeting her at the entrance. There were many warriors who looked like they were only inches from death, most of them suffering from poison and gashes caused by a Daracon's claw.

Lir ignored every soldier but one--the warrior suspended between two of his fellows with a gash that stretched from navel to throat. She felt bile rise in her mouth and she nearly gagged at the sight. How could he still be alive?

/Shinn…/

Unconsciously, Lir began calling for buckets of water and a pallet for the main guestroom. She motioned to the two soldiers carrying her brother, indicating that they should follow her. Servants were scurrying around her and she dragged one with a water bucket and rags along with her. Upon entering the guestroom, the two soldiers placed Shinn on a pallet littered with cushions, not caring that the blood from the gaping wound in the young man's belly would stain the satin.

Lir quickly ordered that a fire be lit, knowing that it would be done with utmost haste. She tried to study Shinn with the cool eyes of a practiced healer, but failed. It was one thing to look carelessly at a wounded stranger--it was quite another to stare into the pale face of her dying brother.

Three deep breaths later, Lir deemed herself calm enough to begin and pulled her bag towards her. With strength brought on by years of training and rage, she ripped the silk cloth that covered Shinn's chest, not bothering with the intricate ties that bound the folds together. Rags soaked in blood greeted her after the garment's removal and she scowled; it was too much blood.

/Well, at least someone had the sense to staunch the blood flow…/

She didn't even want to try unwinding the makeshift bindings and quickly cut them away with a pair of scissors from her bag. Silently, Lir thanked Leviathan that Shinn was unconscious as the bandages were torn away. She could hear the sound of flesh tearing as the bindings were removed, dry blood clinging to the linen. The sight underneath the bandages wasn't any better and Lir froze in horror.

The gash was deep, deeper than she had originally anticipated and mottled with spots of blue, green, and purple. Already the wound was infected and the smell was enough to drive some of the crowd standing around her back. There was nothing she could do for the odor. Those that couldn't handle it were more than welcome to leave--she had other things to worry about.

A bucket of water and a clean rag had been left at her side. Wetting the rag with the water, Lir began to gently clean off the blood that coated Shinn's chest. She had to see the actual wound before she could decide what to do next. Unfortunately, the blood continued to flow, despite her efforts to wash it away and she was offered no better insight than what she had started with. At least it was clean.

/It's too deep, I'm going to have to try and close this wound, / she thought, but that would not be easy.

"I'll need someone to hold the edges together while I sew up the gash. Preferably someone with steady hands," Lir said softly and with more confidence than she actually felt. A figure immediately stepped forward from the group and Lir recognized him as one of the soldiers who had carried Shinn in earlier. Lir gave him her tacit assent and reached into her bag for a needle and thick medical thread. "Everyone else, keep a cool cloth on his head and keep the fire going."

To her amazement, she managed to keep her hands steady as she threaded the needle and began her work. Within moments, she felt a presence behind her. Someone lifted up her unbound hair and tied it into a loose ponytail at the back of her head.

Lir would never be able to tell how long she sat there, but it felt like an eternity. The fire blazing in the open pit in the middle of the room made the area hot and sticky; it made her fingers, which were already coated in blood, slippery and difficult to maneuver. She kept trying to tell herself that the man beneath her hands wasn't Shinn, using the thought to keep her head clear and her eyes dry. Somewhere in that interval, she felt herself begin to waver, her hands quivering. A hand came to rest on her shoulder and she paused just long enough to accept a cup of bitter tasting tea and some water. Still, as the hours dragged on, it became harder and harder to focus, all the images before her wavering. Food was brought to her in the form of a peach, which was held to her mouth by another set of hands as she worked.

/I should have gone. I could have helped and maybe if I had been there, none of this would have happened…No, stop it! Thoughts like those will not help you save him! / It was no use though. The tears came anyway, but she managed to keep the sobs at bay. Another hand, probably the same one that had provided the food and the drink, applied a cloth to her wet eyes.

/Damn demons, damn them all…Why did it have to be Shinn? / Lir hated to see him like this. She knew that it could have been worse, knew that she could have lost him on the field, but this couldn't be Shinn. It wasn't the strong, overconfident, somewhat cocky older brother--it was a torn man.

/I will put you back together again. The Planet will not have you yet, not while I breathe Shinn! /

Sheer will carried her the rest of the way through the procedure and she finally managed to tie off the final knot in the stitching hours later. The stitching finished, she gently rewashed his chest with clean water that had been brought in while she had been sewing him up. With the wound clean, Lir was able to sit back and look at her handiwork. The wound was still swollen and purple, but at least it was closed. There was only one other thing she could do for him; everything else would have to be left to a healing rest.

Lir reached beneath her outer robe to the belt beneath and pulled out one of her fans, sliding a green orb out of one of the slots. Her body had never felt more drained, but she wasn't about to stop now, not when she was so close. Closing her hands around the orb, she began to reach for the energy that she knew lay dormant within, binding the materia's energy with her own to release its magic.

Thankfully, cure materia was one of the easiest to deal with; it was a spell that the Ancients had used often and usually granted without a second thought. Lir could feel the magic wrapping around her body, the energy creating the same ethereal wind that her limit breaks created, only softer, more of a caress. The air, which had seemed hot only moments ago, was now cool and refreshing. Lir loved using cure materia; it was not only one of the few pieces of condensed mako that could be easily handled, but it also caused just as much relief to the user as it did to the one being healed.

Feeling that the power had reached its pinnacle, Lir brought her hands to rest lightly on her patient's chest. Shinn stirred slightly at the initial contact, but didn't awaken, relaxing into her hold. Lir felt the energy drain from her body into his, taking a little bit more than she meant to give--a small uncommon side effect that occasionally occurred when the user was too weak to use a mastered cure materia safely. Shinn's body was starving for the healing energy of the green orb and her body was too weak to resist its desires and thus Shinn drained some of her own energy as well.

The moment the last of the energy faded, Lir felt the world give a violent heave. She released the materia and heard it hit the ground beside her, her own body almost following it before a pair of arms on either side of her lifted her up. She glanced through hooded eyes at her charge and smiled; her brother was breathing easily now that the wound was able to heal itself. It was possible that he would even be awake by morning or perhaps, depending upon the time of night now, afternoon--how late was it anyway?

Lir tried to stand but failed miserably, the room swirling every time she tried to put weight on her legs. The man who had caught her earlier released one of her arms and brought his newly freed hand under her knees, lifting her up like she weighed no more than a grain of rice.

She dimly registered that her father was giving orders and pointing toward the stairs. Apparently, she was to be taken to bed because the soldier who held her began making his way toward the steps. She desperately wanted to stay with Shinn, to keep vigil over him until the night passed, but she hadn't the strength to protest. Sleep was calling and she was out long before the soldier even got to her room.

-Going with him wouldn't have helped you know. They will come either way.

Lir shot up out of the bed, jade eyes darting into every shadow of the room. She could have sworn that she had heard a voice just then, but her room was empty of intruders.

Just a dream, had to be--but it had sounded so real…

-Well, while you try to decide whether or not I'm a figment of your imagination, you might want to look out your window, you have a problem, or will soon enough at any rate.

It was a light voice, watery and tonal with the force of an angelic choir. If it hadn't been a possible threat, she might have taken the time to ask it to sing; it was beautiful. It had a way of wrapping around its listener and reeling it in, which was just what it was doing to Lir; it was becoming harder to categorize that voice as a result of an overstressed mind.

"Okay, who in the name of Leviathan are you?" Lir whispered harshly, her right hand sliding along the bed for the knife she kept under her pillow. "I don't like all this hiding, I've had a long night and don't want to deal with some prick who decided it would be fun to sneak into a princess' room in the middle of the night."

-Ouch, I'm hurt, but you need to see this.

A gust of wind threw open the shutters of her window and before she knew it, the sheets covering her body were flung away by invisible hands, leaving her in the same robes she had worn earlier that evening. The wind roaring through the open window was hot and Lir found herself having to shield her eyes from the scorching heat. Her hand left the hilt of her knife, the weapon completely forgotten. Instead, she vaulted out of bed and ran to the window, her eyes widening at the sight. Wutai was going up in flames.

-You should wake up now. Go to your father and brother.

Lir's eyes flew open and this time she got out of bed without a second thought--no slippery imaginary voice was needed to prompt her rising this time. She tried to keep the panic down by taking deep breaths to slow her racing heart. The glow from the ignited city wasn't there anymore and her window was now closed, but she could hear the sound of screaming voices and the resonating clank of metal on metal beneath her feet and in the hall outside. There was a crash outside her door. That settled Lir's mind; she began to remove her outer robes in favor of the tight fighting gear beneath. There was no time to find her shoes, so she settled for a pair of loose slippers; it wasn't much protection, but it was better than nothing.

/What is going on down there? The voice earlier said to find Shinn and Father. / Suddenly, another thought occurred to her that nearly caused her to panic, despite the effort she made in trying to keep a cool head. /Shinn is hurt. Even if he were awake now, he still couldn't defend himself! /

Lir grabbed her fans from their stand, secured her hair, and flung open the door to her room. A horrendous roar greeted her in the hallway and she barely had time to raise her weapons before a dark figure slammed itself into her. Using her left fan, she blocked an errant strike and used her right to cut through a black blur in the corner of her vision.

The creature jerked back and Lir got a good look at a scaly hide with wings and the head of a raptor. Red eyes glared at her in fury and its fangs were barred. /A Daracon… In the palace. Not good. / She didn't want to wait for the demon to attack her; it could easily finish her if she gave it the chance. The last attack had taken off a large chunk of its wing and it was having trouble staying aloft, especially in such narrow corridors. Using that to her advantage, Lir let loose her left fan, sending it spinning toward the creature's head, herself following right after with her other weapon open for strike. The fan that was thrown hit true, imbedding itself the attacker's skull right between the eyes. Though it may not have been necessary, Lir followed up as planned with a close range strike to the throat, effectively killing the creature if by some off chance it was still alive after her first strike.

Lir removed her fan from the Daracon's head after it fell to the ground and she swallowed thickly. Blood from the dead demon was staining the floor a brilliant crimson--it coated her as well. The sticky liquid that had spilled forth from the artery she had severed was all over the upper part of her body, covering her from shoulders to hair. There was a bad taste in her mouth and for several moments all she could do was stare at the creature whose lifeblood was wetting the hallway outside her room. It had all happened so fast, there hadn't been time to register what she was doing…

A cry resonated through the palace walls from one of the lower levels and Lir shook herself out of her stupor. /I shouldn't be standing her like this. It was just a demon. Something like that doesn't deserve to live anyway and besides, Shinn and Father need my help. /

It would be hard, and not to mention time consuming, to attempt to make it down the steps to the first floor; there would be too many battles and there was no telling what was happening to her father and brother on the first floor. There was more than one way to move about within the palace walls, however, and Lir was willing to bet that the intruders hadn't found the secret passages yet.

Stepping over the dead Daracon and back into her room, Lir made her way over to the far wall adjacent the window. She took a quick peak at the city beneath her and experienced a small sense of relief at seeing it still in one piece. At least the city wasn't ablaze as it had been in her dream--yet. She couldn't quite pinpoint why, but something about that dream scared the living daylights out of her; there was a truth in it that she could not rationalize, no matter how hard she tried.

Yet another thing to worry about at a later time.

Lir bent over to reach between the cracks in the floorboards, using one of her nails to pry up a thin piece of wire that had been hidden between the two slabs of wood. She then took the wire and moved to the corner between the window and the wall, inserting the wire into the small crack that she knew was there. It took her longer than she had hoped to open the passageway; she spent far too much time forcing the wire in and out over the crack, looking for the button that would release the door.

/It's got to be here. It's been a long time, but by Leviathan I should still be able to open it! /

Finally, she heard the soft click that signaled the catch's release. The door slid out a few inches so that she could grab it and pull it the rest of the way. Making sure that there was nothing around to follow her, she ducked into the passageway and closed the entrance.

The passage was as dark as she remembered; hardly any light crept around the corners and it was silent as a crypt inside. Lir stood for a moment and waited for her eyes to adjust slightly to the darkness. She couldn't afford to be bumping into walls--any noise could alert one of the demons to her presence within the wall.

The nearest light source, a lamp lit by softly glowing materia, was only a few steps in front of her and she crept forward to removed it from its holder. There were a couple passages that were without any light at all, so she would need to carry a light source with her.

Shadows darted around corners as Lir moved along the corridor, struggling to remember the correct path through the winding halls. She could feel the floor sloping beneath her feat as she descended and she kept one hand on the wall beside her; the light was too dim to put full trust in her eyes.

A loud crash sounded through the wall on her left from the other side and Lir stopped dead. There was a roar followed by a high-pitched scream that was abruptly cut off--a female, one of the servants. There wasn't time to worry about the girl, but the scream still sent shivers up her spine all the same. As one of the leaders in this house, it was her responsibility to protect those who served her. Under the circumstances, she shouldn't have felt guilt but…

/I'm supposed to be their guardian--service in exchange for protection, that's how it supposed to work. Leviathan, but I feel like such a coward. While our warriors are out there fighting in the halls, I'm hiding no more than a few meters from them. I'm sorry, / she said silently. /I wish I could help, but if the Kisaragi fall…/

She didn't want to finish that thought. If the Kisaragi fell, Wutai fell as well. In a land bound to the rule of a single lord, sudden independence in a time of great strife was not an option. The fiefdom relied too heavily on her family to continue on their own successfully against a hoard of demon invaders, and if she didn't get down to her father and Shinn, the people would have to try.

Suddenly aware of how thin the walls were, Lir crept through the passageway as if she were walking on egg shells--as quietly as she could, shifting her weight easily from one foot to the next. Years of training were finally being used to their full potential. Not a single board groaned beneath her passing.

As far as direction went, the decision was easy until the last turn. Usually, the path required her to either go left or right, the consequences nothing worse than encountering a dead end or finding oneself turned around and going in the opposite direction; two mistakes that could be quickly remedied. The last turn, however, was a four way split, and the consequences could be quite grievous for choosing incorrectly. Lir had had nightmares after exploring this section of the passage as a child. Three out of the four turns were safe enough: one would lead directly to the shrine, one to the front door, and the third was another dead end. The fourth lead any intruder to a painful death after landing in a bed of spikes implanted in the floor. Her father, after realizing that his two children had been traipsing through the passageways behind the walls, had shown her the trap so that she would stay clear of it. He had taken a light inside the dim hall and disengaged the trap door. What had met her gaze had terrified her. Hundreds of sharp spikes rose from the hole in the ground, their tips stained red from the blood of a few unfortunate intruders. Bones and old pieces of cloth had scattered the dirt beneath and the whole area smelt of decay.

And the worst part was, Lir could not recall which direction led to the trap and in the dim light, she wasn't entirely sure that she would spot it before it was too late.

/So, a guess it shall be. Leviathan may I choose correctly. / Lir attempted to put the layout of the ground floor in her mind. If she could just pinpoint where she was, she could take an educated guess as to which direction to take. That, however, was easier said than done. All the winding that had led her through the halls made it nearly impossible to figure out exactly where she was in the building.

The calculations got her no where and after a moment's deliberation, she decided that left was as good as any other direction.

Still keeping her steps silent, she crossed the hall and took another sharp turn, sighing in relief when she saw a pale light flooding in from a crack at the end. Lir pushed the wall open and stepped onto the thick mats of the shrine. The shrine, to her surprise, didn't seem to have been touched by the demons; nothing had been moved and everything was in one piece.

Lir's jade eyes caught a faint red glow coming from the direction of the god statue. The Leviathan materia, a crimson orb that was sacred to the Wutai people, was shining brilliantly upon a pedestal. Using that in battle would summon the god itself.

"And that would explain why the room is untouched," Lir remarked aloud, although there was no one to hear her. It was only a rumor, but many people who had fought the demons had reported that the vile creatures feared the summons, even the dark Hades. It was not solid fact, but the undefiled shrine was enough proof for Lir. "Thank you Leviathan. At least this shrine will remain when this is over. Please, give my people strength."

Lir bowed before the god statue before turning around and heading toward the guestroom where her brother lay. It may have just been her imagination going wild, but she could have sworn that the materia's luminance increased for a moment, as if in acknowledgment.

/My imagination maybe, but we'll need all the help we can get. /

Lir emerged cautiously from the room, just peeking out from behind the door before settling fully into the hallway. Pieces of furniture and cushions were lying everywhere alongside a few dead bodies--human and Daracon alike. Screen doors lay ajar and some of the walls were decorated with newly added claw marks in place of the tapestries that once adorned them.

The first floor appeared deserted, for most of the demons had moved to the upper floors, but there was noise coming from one of the rooms--she didn't have to guess which one.

The sounds of a fierce fight spurred Lir forward, the young woman no longer caring if she made enough noise to alert the entire household of her presence. Battle cries were ringing off the walls and they were coming from a throat that she knew all too well. It was a voice that was capable of soothing words, and raucous laughter, even though its depths were harsh now. That, voice, so familiar, could even sing when it was so inclined; it was when she liked it most, though it rarely occurred. It was a deep baritone that had developed its strength in song by gifting her with lullabies as a child in the absence of the female soprano that should have accompanied it.

Lir threw the door open just in time to see a sword thrust through her father's chest, the proud warrior not uttering so much as a cry as he was cut down. Blood seeped from the open wound in torrents, the still beating heart within pumping blood through the wound. His silken robes were covered in the sticky liquid and not just from the chest wound, but many abrasions; Lord Naragai hadn't even had time to put on his armor before the invasion. Lir didn't have to get a closer look to realize that her father was dead; even her skill couldn't heal a sword thrust to the heart.

The demon wasted no time and was already turning to Shinn. Her brother, despite his earlier weakness, was struggling to get up as he reached for his sword, which was leaning against the wall behind him. There was no way he would make it; his face was contorted in pain and his body was glistening with a thick coat of sweat from the exertion. Shinn was awake, but he was not free of pain and well enough to fight.

Tears blurred her vision, but Lir could not miss the hulking mass that was the Daracon demon. She unfurled her metal fans and lunged at the creature, a war cry that she didn't even know existed within her ripping from her own throat. Every muscle was pushed to its maximum. The distance between herself and Shinn may as well have been a gulf, but rational thought no longer existed for her. Only bloodlust, revenge, and a fierce protection for what family she had left remained--rage too was a driving force.

The demon must have been surprised at the sudden onslaught because his block was feeble. Lir immediately tore through the soft defense and struck his left eye with her sharp blades, causing a bloody rent through the red orb. The demon howled in pain and before Lir could make a second attack she found herself slammed bodily to the floor, the Daracon's claws at her throat--they were drawing blood.

"Ah, the Kisaragi female. I was wondering when you would decide to turn up, though I admit, I was somewhat shocked that you showed up bearing arms." The demon's voice was deep, a low guttural rumble that sounded from within his chest; his breath stank of decay and rotten flesh. It was enough to make Lir want to gag.

The Daracon had wrenched the fan out of her right hand and was currently studying it with a keen eye while holding it in his free hand. "Such an interesting weapon too--very delicate, yet lethal enough to tear a hole in my hide." He drew his finger across the blade. Blood welled up where he had touched the metal and his red eyes narrowed. "Sharp indeed. I think I shall keep this piece."

"Just what is a little human girl doing with such a--lethal--weapon?" Although the claw clasped around her neck was as firm as any piece of chain, his voice was soft, calm, and perfectly even, almost bored.

Lir's voice was frozen. There was no way she was going to get out of this. She was going to follow her father in death and her brother would come after her in turn. Her weapons had been disposed of and her air was becoming shorter as the demon's hand slowly tightened around her neck. Death was coming and…

"Lord Tibora!" The hand on her throat suddenly left and the demon on top of her whirled around just as a smaller Daracon came charging into the room, a diminutive heaving creature that looked like a guppy compared to the one above her.

"What is it you grub? I'm a little busy here!" Tibora replied, gesturing to where Lir lay on the floor.

"Sorry my lord, but Shigura says that Wutai troops from the city and beyond the wall are converging on the palace. If we want to get out, he suggests we get out now."

That seemed to sober Tibora somewhat, but not enough to keep him from throwing her fans down in frustration. If Lir wasn't mistaken, the tiny muscles in his back were beginning to twitch. He took one last glance at his prey and then folded his wings over his shoulders, the leathery material draping around him like a cape. "A human girl and an injured prince," he huffed. "Why bother?"

Only when Tibora and his underling left did Lir lay back, tears of relief and sorrow streaming down her cheeks. Those soft tears turned into muffled cries and eventually, as she looked at the remains of her father, an unstoppable flood of wrenching sobs. Those sobs wracked her body in a flood of grief she had not felt the likes of in some time; probably not since her mother died.

Lir's mother had died when she was three of an illness that had swept the nation. Now, sixteen years later, she could remember very little about her mother, although there were a few things forever burned in her memory. Her mother's soft voice, for example, and her strong embrace--the smell of lavender that coated hair as dark as her own. A pair of soft green eyes as they stared down at her like a set of distant stars. It had been a long time since Lir had tried to summon up her mother's image and right now she would have given anything for her to be here.

A pair of strong arms wound themselves around her and Lir felt her self pressed to a broad, muscular chest. Shinn had managed to move away from the wall and gather her into a strong embrace, ignoring the fact that she was covered in blood and sweat. Not caring about how uncharacteristic it was for her, Lir sobbed into his chest, wetting the bandages that still encased his upper torso. She felt Shinn's hand run through her hair, stroking the black locks while he was trying to mutter soothing words, although those too sounded a little choked; his condition wasn't much better than hers.

Lir was barely conscious of a pair of guards entering the room and only noticed them when one of them was right on top of them. Shinn began giving orders, immediately taking charge despite the events of the evening. Lir knew that she should be doing something as well, but couldn't bring herself to stop crying. It didn't seem to bother Shinn. He let her cry on his shoulder until she had no more tears left.

The funeral was held that morning, to the backdrop of a rising sun. It was an unelaborate ceremony, not really fit for the Lord of Wutai, but everyone who was able to crowded into the area in front of the shrine to bid him and others who had fallen farewell. There was no time for all the proper ceremony to be conducted; a time of mourning would have to wait until Wutai could be put back together again. The Daracon had caused a great deal of damage to the city, both inside and outside of the palace walls. What was destroyed had to be rebuilt and be made stronger than it was before.

There was a great deal of talk that day and Shinn, despite his condition, was surrounded by advisors and a few high-ranking warriors. He spent all day trying to piece together their father's country. Lir should have been beside him in there; the people expected it. Her absence was attributed to everything from emotional distraught, to injury inflicted by the Daracon that killed her father, Tibora.

Lir's absence was do to no such thing.

Her day was spent in preparation and by the end of the afternoon, her fans had been honed to a surgical edge, her armor was snapped into place, and a pair of knives, which she almost never wore, were now strapped to her upper arms beneath her sleeves. Demons would never get inside the walls of Wutai again, that she would make sure of. Two hundred years ago, her ancestor, Yuffie Kisaragi, had left Wutai in order to save it.

Maybe it was a family trait.

Author's Comments: I used this chapter to see if I could develop Lir's character more as well as to introduce the catalyst that forces her to leave Wutai. My vision of Lir is of a sheltered, but not entirely helpless woman. She was trained to fight, but has never been permitted to do so; she has never left the city for that matter. Lir, however, wants to help her people because after all, she is their princess, so she serves as one of the city's healers. Unlike her ancestor, Yuffie, she honors the traditions of her country, even if she does not agree with them all the time. She has a strange mixture of honor and respect, mixed with a spirit in need of breaking out. I think I am going to like working with Lir as a character. She should evolve very nicely.

To those who are wondering, Vincent will appear in the next chapter.


	3. Summoning

DL Noleek

Child of the Serpent

Chapter 3: Summoning

Disclaimer: Don't own anything SquareSoft

Desperate people do desperate things,

especially when something they care about

is placed in danger. It is those people you

have to watch out for because their feelings

often cloud their better judgement.

They can either be the hero or the villain.  
  
It all depends on how they react to a given   
  
situation.

-Tseng, Leader of the Turks  
A quote from Memoirs

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lir had used the paths behind the walls to gain entrance to the shrine unnoticed, only this time it wasn't demons she was attempting to allude, but her own people. There were guards outside the temple doors as well as outside of her room, but with any luck, she wouldn't need either exit. Hopefully her accost into the night would be unnoticed until late the next morning; by then she would be long gone and on her way--to wherever it was she was going.

And therein lay the only weak spot in her plan--after she left Wutai, then what?

The question had plagued her since dawn that morning. It was like the incessant buzzing of a fly; it was a small detail in comparison to the rest of her plan (at the moment), but it was something that was irksome and needed to be swatted at before it went away.

The fact of the matter was that Wutai would not survive the continuous onslaught of sieges. The demons who had swarmed the Planet were many times their number. It was possible that they could hold out longer, for several generations in fact, if they were to align themselves with another nation. Another army with enough force to keep the city safe would certainly be a welcome ally--but who? The only other city that matched Wutai in strength, as far as she knew, was Junon, but Junon lay across an ocean and a continent in both directions. Wutai, isolated since the beginning from every other city and country in on the Planet, now had no one to turn to.

And thus the people looked to their rulers for guidance--a wounded lord who was still barely conscious and a single maiden with no real power of state. Lir and her brother were two grounded falcons against a hurricane.

The decision to leave had been difficult. If she stayed, she would be able to help Shinn; under her eye, he could heal faster and stronger. She could even take control of some of the more domestic requirements of his office, such as finding room for some of the refugees coming into Wutai. Already, people were flocking to the city's gates from outlying villages. They arrived on carts, chocobos, and on foot. Literally thousands of men, women, and children had been streaming through the gates every hour since dawn, pushed off their farms by the invading demonic forces; all of them were cold, all of them were hungry, all were suffering from physical or emotional pain, and all of them wanted in. The only problem was, there wasn't any room. The inns were already full and even with pubs, stock houses, and the public shrine being converted to living quarters, the city could not hold everyone. The walled city, with its powerful warriors, strong barricades, and war-ready weapons would never be able to hold with the entire continent's population inside. A walled city full of people was also the perfect target for the Daracons; with everyone in one place, all the demons had to do was take down Wutai and the continent was theirs.

Lir knew that if she stayed, she could help ease some of the city's problems, but that was it--she could only ease them, not solve them. And Shinn would get better with or without her further aid.

But if she could get rid of Tibora…

Tibora, the Daracon who had slaughtered her father, had to be the demon lord in control and from her observations, Lir assumed that the demon army would do the same thing a tower would do when the foundations were taken out from under it; it would crumble. Most demons were like the advanced technology from the old world. Demons would not unite unless bound together by some connection and had to be told what to do if they were to be used as an attacking force.

There were very few demons at or beyond human intelligence. Shinn, who had been outside the walls a great deal more than she, once told her of a lone Menapet attacking an entire battalion of armed men. For a Menapet, it was a foolish decision. Their delicate exoskeletons, weak wings, and claw-less fingers were no match for armed men. Lir herself remembered a little of that conflict; the worst injury had been a bite to a shoulder.

Lir's plan, as well thought out as it could be, was simple--find out where Tibora was and assassinate him. The demon world--or at least, the one that gripped Wutai--would fall apart without him. Now, how to find him and how to get there--the plan had a few glitches, but Lir had no better ideas. Killing Tibora was her main goal, the details she would figure out along the way.

Tibora was Lir's reason for going to the shrine in the first place. Lir, a lone human, could not hope to defeat a demon lord. She had no delusions of grandeur and victory; Lir would die if she were to just barge into his lair by herself.

There was no way a single human could take on a demon army--well, no one in her time anyway--but a god…

The Leviathan materia could give her what she needed. His power alone would be able to lay waste to Tibora and his followers. With a powerful summon on her side, how could she fail?

Lir peered at the red globe lying in its place on the pedestal in front of the god statue. Technically speaking, the Leviathan Summon was a materia that had to be given freely in order for it to work. As the lorespinners told it, Leviathan had bound itself to the Kisaragi House before the construction of the fiefdom, the god having chosen the Kisaragi as leaders for its followers, charged with binding the people together and guarding them. In return for their service, Leviathan had promised to come when the current lord of Wutai summoned him. It was a powerful weapon, but it could only be used by the Lord of Wutai; if anyone else so much as touched the materia, the god would turn His wrath upon him.

Lir could only pray desperately that the god would accept her as its bearer. The summon would not be given to her--she was no Wutai Lord--she would have to take it.

There was no telling how Leviathan would react. /Hopefully, he'll see that I mean no harm and that I'm doing this for the greater good. If he doesn't--/ Lir didn't need to finish the thought. If he couldn't see her true intentions, it may not matter to her whether or not Wutai was destroyed.

Lir reached out toward the softly glowing sphere, hesitating just before settling her hand over its smooth surface. Stealing the materia was harder than she thought it would be. It wasn't that she was worried about getting caught--Lir would either succeed, or the materia would kill her for her attempt--but taking something that was so important to her family was--difficult.

Lir took another deep breath and squeezed her eyes shut before closing the distance between her fingers and the softly glowing ball of light, her muscles tightening at the initial contact. For a moment, she remained frozen with one hand over the orb and then, ever so slowly, she opened her eyes and lifted the materia fully into her hand.

/It's warm./ The thought came unbidden to her, and it was such an obvious fact that Lir almost laughed aloud. After all the anticipation, the fear of being killed by her own god in retribution for her theft, all she could come up with was--it's warm.

It was though, and that was strange because every other materia she had encountered had always been cool. This felt almost like an egg--it was as if there was something sleeping within its shell.

Lir didn't have time to come up with an explanation for the warmth because suddenly, the orb's light flared. For one heart-stopping second, Lir thought that Leviathan had indeed thought ill of her crime and she nearly dropped it, but the flare died down and soon the materia's soft light was expunged entirely. The heat that had been present earlier was also quenched.

The room, which had been bright because of the light shed from the orb, dimmed as light from the torches along the walls cast shadows about the shrine and over the god statue in the center. It may have just been her imagination, but Lir could almost swear that the god statue now looked empty--the darkness playing over the face made the features look completely expressionless. The effect was unsettling and Lir shuddered, placing the now cool materia into an empty slot on her right fan.

/I guess I can take all this as a sign that I am welcome to Leviathan's power--I hope. Still, something about this isn't right. Father never had time to formally pass the Leviathan summon to Shinn, so it's hard to tell what the materia is supposed to do when it is accepted, but I don't think that it was supposed to flare like that. Maybe it was because there was no ritual./ Lir seriously hoped that was it and didn't dwell on the thought; she didn't need more weight added onto her burdens.

Besides, she still had other things to do tonight--she had to get out of Wutai.

"She actually went through with it, I'm surprised. I thought for sure that she'd chicken out and go back to bed." The figure watched as Wutai's newest "thief" made her way from the palace and towards the city gates. He leaned against the shrine wall across from the palace's front door, settling himself more comfortably into the shadows--the next guard would be passing by any moment and it wouldn't do to get caught now. /Getting snagged now would cramp my style/. He smirked at the thought. It really was thrilling to watch how she managed; who would have though the innocent Lady of Wutai had it in her to steal the Leviathan summon right out from under her brother's nose.

-Yes, she did very well, but she has a ways to go yet.

The voice, as always, was a soft presence in the back of his head. To him, it was like hearing a soft whisper in his ears, but it was a sound no one else ever heard. It was a light breath of wind that caressed and wound its way around his senses--intoxicating, powerful, and utterly frozen.

The figure in shadow flicked a strand of red hair out of his face before lighting a cigarette, taking a deep whiff to fill his lungs with the smoke. And to think, there was a time when people told him that /smoking/ would kill him; what an utterly laughable concept. Now, having sixty or so tons of concrete fall on top of one's head, that might be a one way ticket to Hades' door, but smoking--harmless. Or at least, it was to him. "So, why are we here again?" he asked.

-Because we're supposed to help her in the next leg of her journey.

"Ah, that's right," the figure said rather offhandedly. "Kitsune, you are dashing my plans for the evening. To think, I could have been settled comfortably in a warm bed by now, drowned on some cheap wine and enjoying the company of a beautiful woman--or women, whatever the case may be. But no, I have to be doing something constructive with my time!"

-Are you finished yet? We have things to do.

"Why should I have to--"

-Because /she/ said so, remember?

"Yes I do remember, but I thought we were supposed to be free agents. Since when do we work for somebody?"

-Since the seal over the demons was broken, now come on! Lir's getting too far ahead of us and we have to divert her current course. We can't let her leave the city without calling him.

"All right!" He took one final puff from his cigarette before tossing it to the ground and stamping out the butt with his foot. "If it will get you to shut up," the figure mumbled.

Stepping away from the wall, he began following his charge, moving as fast as the shadows that concealed him and knowing full well than no human in the immediate area would see him. He didn't stop until he reached a small alleyway well in front of her.

As soon as he slowed down he began changing, his bones and muscles twisting into a new form. It was painful, but that was nothing new; it was always a small agony. His legs withered, his back bent, and his shoulders stooped, morphing until they fell comfortably into their new shape. The feeling of looking through someone else's eyes emerged, like a strange kind of tunnel vision as his skin, youthful before, became as wrinkled as the cloths that had previously been on his back. Yes, the cloths had changed too. The black tank top and loose breeches just didn't look right on the old priestess. Two hundred years of these kinds of things, and it still felt gross in the old bag of bones.

/The things I have to put up with sometimes./ He thought silently to his companion.

-Well, she won't listen to you! But the old priestess…

/Yes, I know, now stop disrupting my thoughts./

-You think that it's always all sunshine and fun being stuck your head? You're a very disturbing man you know.

/Ah, but I'm fun./

-Uh, huh. Just get to work, here she comes.

As much as he hated to admit it, the voice was right. He couldn't afford to bungle this; not that he ever 'bungled' much of anything. Despite his carefree attitude, he knew when to get serious and this was no time for playing games--it was time to pull a trick.

He stepped out of the alley and into Lir's path just as she was about to pass him. She obviously had not seen him because she jumped back with a small cry, her green eyes widening at the sight of him. Her tiny mouth moved up and down, but she couldn't seem to get a single word out of it. The lady had begun to reach for one of her fans, but thought better of it and right then, he couldn't help pitying her.

/Yeah, after what you did back at the palace, I would be afraid of meeting a temple priestess out on the streets too./ He watched as the young woman tried to speak, admiring the full redness of her lips, her perfect complexion, and her tight young body. /Damn, and she's cute too. Under different circumstances I may have taken advantage of some of her assets… I almost feel guilty--but then again, this could save her life. If she went to fight the Demon Lord alone…/

His thoughts were interrupted again as Lir finally managed to find some words. "I'm sorry, I…" She fingered the hilt of her fan, her fingers automatically going to the summon materia she had just taken. "Please understand, this was for the good of Wutai. I know what I did was wrong but…"

She didn't even make an attempt to lie. A trait that was perfect for a gentle lady--but a trait she couldn't afford. She would learn, he supposed, she would have to. "I know," he said, effectively silencing her. His voice was higher and weaker than it had been; by all things holy he hated this form! "I have foreseen the destruction that will decimate this entire Planet. Leviathan has accepted you as its new bearer and thus it is you who must save our world from its ultimate demise," he stated, putting as much authority into the old voice as he possibly could.

/Jeez, I sound like Budahgen, how awful!/

Lir's eyes widened in shock, but she didn't say anything, so he continued. "Lady of Wutai, inheritor of Leviathan, you can not do this alone. You must ask the god for aid in your quest for you have not been outside these walls. The world is a big place and it shall be new to you. In the old shrine within the caves of Dao Chao, there lie several sutras. Use one of these to summon a guide."

His charge didn't say anything, but she nodded in understanding and immediately reversed direction, heading toward the ancient mountain. When he was sure that Lir could no longer see him he morphed back into his original form.

"Well, that went well."

-Yes, I suppose. She seemed quite shocked to see a priestess standing in the middle of the road.

"Yes, I suppose. Do you think that she'll summon him?" She would if she was as intelligent as she looked. Lir may be a princess, but she wasn't some gently bred fool. Although learning of the world through /his/ experiences; she would have to be very strong, very stubborn, and very persuasive.

-Oh, I think she will. She has a role to play, as do we.

"So we aren't done yet?" he nearly hit himself for saying it. They couldn't possibly be done yet, that was way too easy. He knew what his companion would say next…

-Of course not. We have to follow her out.

"Damn." Well, he knew it was coming.

The wind outside of the cave roared in discordant harmony; the sound unnerved Lir to no end. The sky had been slightly overcast before she left the palace, which had not necessarily been a bad thing since she was trying to sneak away with a stolen summon materia. Now, however, the rampage outside indicated the approach of a coming storm and although Lir had been praying fervently that it would hold off until she could depart, she doubted that her prayers had reached a caring ear.

Perhaps it wouldn't matter if the fury outside did strike; Lir was beginning to tire of going through sutras and was slowly beginning to think that the old woman had sent her on a wild goose chase. If the woman hadn't been a priestess, she might not have gone at all, but Lir didn't dare disobey the words of someone who was favored by the god. She was sure the god was spiteful enough as it was--there was no need to temp Leviathan's wrath more than she already had.

The cave was quite possibly the most inhospitable place to spend time in all of Wutai. Converted into a shrine soon after the death of Lord Godo, Wutai's leader during the Meteor Crisis, its depths were an intermingling of opposites. The cave was a deep one, a wall of fire pouring steadily out of the rock on one side just behind the alter on the far wall, casting light on that one side while sending the rest of the cave into darkness. Predictably, the area nearest the flame was also warmer; the walls furthest from the flames were actually covered in ice. Perhaps balance had been what the shrine's creators had originally seen in the formation; it made it the perfect location for a shrine to the gods.

Not only was it a major shrine, but it also was a library of sorts--which was the other reason why Lir had come. The entire back wall had been painstakingly carved into little compartments and each little box contained--or had once contained--a sutra. Many of the oldest sutras were aged beyond recognition, the vellum having been eaten away by weather and the passing of years. The older ones Lir passed over on her search; if they didn't break apart in her hands, the writing would be unintelligible.

But for all the manuscript present, Lir had yet to find what she was looking for--something that would summon her help. There was seemingly a plurflora of knowledge hidden away at the top of Da Chao, but nothing thus far had proven useful, though she was beginning to think that some of her ancestors had been a bit eccentric. There were billions of odds and ends: prayers she expected--such as those for rain, bountiful harvests, and cleansing--and those she didn't--like the one for rashes, or the prayer that prevented sleep.

Lir was about to give up and continue her journey alone, when she spotted a small scroll tucked away in a corner in one of the more shadowy parts of the room. Bending over, she picked it up carefully, the ancient vellum coming apart in tatters in her hand even as she pried it open.

/There's no title,/ she noted silently. Lir could make out a few scratches at the top of the page that might have once contained some writing, but it was so worn that there was no way to make it out. Surprisingly, however, the prayer itself was intact.

/This is what I came for,/ she thought absently, and then started at the thought. /Where did that come from? There isn't even a title, how could I possibly know that this is what I have been seeking? I could look through at least a couple more before trying…/

She could, but she wouldn't.

Rising to her feet, Lir carried her newly acquired prayer over to the shrine near the fire and set it down on the altar. The firelight immediately caught the ancient black ink and Lir's jade eyes widened. The light reflected off the ink as if the dried liquid was some kind of mirror, the old dye becoming suddenly moist again, as if it had just been written; the ink was beginning to run.

Lir tried to put a comment past her lips, tried to recall the action of placing the vellum down on the alter in the first place, but her arms suddenly lost their ability to move. It was as if something was forcing her to say what was written on the page.

And to her horror, her lips began to move with no prompting from her:

"Seeker of redemption,  
hear my voice through the torment of damnation  
and answer my call.

Wanderer of the shadowlands  
cease your eternal trek across nightmare's plain  
and follow my voice across the barrier between.

Ye of darkness, and light,  
come through the veil,  
at my beckoning from promised land.

Silent warrior of the past,  
shed your chains that bind you from this quest,  
and come now at my behest!

You are needed once again!"

Lir's voice fell silent and she held her breath, half-fearing that nothing would happen, and half fearing that something would. For a moment, it appeared that whatever it was she had called would not appear, but then Lir felt a sweltering heat from beneath her.

The ink on the parchment, which had been moist before, began to wave, like ripples in water. It was almost as if the words were melting into the page and then suddenly, the great fire behind the altar blinked and went out. Before Lir could utter a cry of bewilderment, the flames roared up again with a vengeance, their reach now further than before, covering the alter and sending Lir stumbling back blindly. Despite her efforts to restrain it, Lir screamed, the sound stolen from her throat echoing through the chamber.

Lir's jade eyes widened at the blaze--it just wasn't possible. Nothing like this phenomenon had ever been reported within the shrine.

But nevertheless, the flames were as real and as hot as those from a blacksmith's forge and Lir had an uneasy feeling that this forge was melding a weapon of awesome strength--a weapon she wasn't sure she wanted.

/But you asked for it,/ she reminded herself--or had she? It felt almost like she had been forced to read the prayer…

There was only fire to begin with , but it wasn't long before Lir caught sight of a shadow emerging through the orange haze. At first, it appeared to be nothing more than a shapeless apparition, but it soon took the form of a man. Tall and lean, he carried himself with the easy grace of a hunter, and his steps were as silent as they would have been had he been stalking prey.

Lir couldn't make out any specific features, however, though her eyes tried. Unconsciously, she took another step back, but it wasn't enough to avoid a sudden assault. Before she could move away, the figure leaped out of the flame, a black swirl of cloth behind him fanning out like the wings of a vengeful angel.

She felt herself pushed off her feet and onto the cold stone floor, jagged rocks sending shots of pain up she spine as landed. The man's heavy weight lay on top of her, his hands and knees pinning Lir to the ground. Under different circumstances, it may have been an awkward position…

And then she found herself staring into a pair of malicious eyes--red eyes, as crimson as blood.

Lir felt cold metal clamp around her throat and could just barely make out the form of a golden claw in her peripheral vision. Her air was completely cut off as she was forced to stare up at man's face. He was so close; she could feel his breath across her cheeks and her nose--warm as the smoke from the fire behind him. But as close as she was, Lir couldn't make out the face before her; a crimson cloth, as red as his eyes, covered every feature.

"Why did you bring me back?" Lir shuddered, the man's voice was quiet, but cold. His claw moved up higher on her throat and began to squeeze a little tighter, but not tight enough to prevent her from speaking--he wanted an answer.

/Leviathan what did I summon?/

"She no longer resides within this world! All that was once here for me is gone!" His voice was rising and Lir could almost picture the lips behind the cloth curving into a vicious sneer. "Who are you and why have you summoned me?--answer before I am forced to act further!"

The man riled on, but Lir meanwhile, was nearly floored with shock. The answer to her previous thought was obvious, but nearly unbelievable. Red eyes, midnight black hair, a golden claw, and a red cape--from what Lir recalled of the Planet's history, the description matched that of Vincent Valentine. All well and good except for one tiny problem--Vincent Valentine, former member of Avalanche and hero of the Planet, had been dead for over two hundred years. It was physically impossible; people just didn't come back from the dead, unless what she had summoned was a ghost…

But it would have to be a damn live ghost. The figure above her was definitely warm and solid as stone--an unmovable stone.

/So if this is Vincent Valentine, then 'she' would be…Lucrecia?/ It was a shot in the dark, but it was her best guess. The priestess had sent her here to call for aid and well, if this was what she called, he would have to do. But something told her that this demonic man would not work for free. An idea was already sowing its seeds, but it was a long shot; she had no choice.

"My name is Avalir Kisaragi and I called you because I needed your help." The words came out airy and hoarse, but Lir sighed inwardly. At least she got them through her throat.

"I don't want to help you, I just wanted to be left alone." The claw tightened again and Lir's world began to spin; she would need oxygen soon.

"Please," she pleaded, "the Planet is in danger again. Demon's have…"

"I don't care about some demons, all I wanted…"

Pleading wasn't working. Lir had hoped that she wouldn't have to use her incentive, but…

"If you help me…I can bring back Lucrecia." The hand gripping her throat suddenly released her and Lir gulped in a huge mouthful of air as Vincent's weight suddenly moved off of her.

"What did you say?" His voice had gone back to it normal volume, but Vincent's eyes were wide in disbelief.

Those crimson eyes bore through Lir as if they could uncover every dark secret she had ever kept hidden. She knew she shouldn't have said, knew that it would be impossible, but then again, what she had just done in and of itself had been impossible. The bonds of reality had blurred a bit.

"If you help me defeat the demon lord Tibora, I promise that I will revive Lucrecia as I just revived you," Lir said.

Vincent's eyes widened a fraction more and Lir felt a double-edged sword of relief and apprehension twist through her gut. The man remained silent, but Lir was already certain that she had him. It was a good way to get him to help her; the hope of seeing Lucrecia again was too strong.

/Now all I have to do is figure out how to keep my promise./

Author's Comments: End chapter 3. Told you Vincent would appear in this chapter, but it looks like Lir has gotten herself into a bit of a spot; it appears she has made a promise she can not keep. For those who are wondering, yes there is going to be some romance between Lir and Vincent (quite a bit actually). I thought the two characters would balance each other out very well. I'm going to have fun playing with them.

Lastly, please review, I like reviews. Reviews mean that I keep the story moving at a good pace.


	4. Partners?

DL Noleek

Child of the Serpent

Chapter 4: Partners?

Disclaimer: Don't own anything FF7

Thank you to the following for reviewing: Emri, Chels, and Cattibrie393. I am glad you like it.

__

Vincent was always the silent one; we rarely knew   
what he was thinking. It was like this black cloud  
always hung over him and it separated him from   
the rest of the group. Vincent had to have been  
a kind, gentle man once, but now he seems  
like an empty shell. But still, he was useful in battle  
and his skills saved us all from death more than once.  
I have never met a better marksman, and probably  
never will. I hope that one day, he finds something   
important enough to live for again.

Tifa Lockheart  
An excerpt from 'Memoirs'

She could hardly believe the words that came out of her mouth herself, couldn't believe that she had promised this--demon--Lucrecia's life. It wasn't like Lir could go back on her word, however, she was in a precarious position as it was. Leviathan was not always the kindest god in such matters. Lir prayed that he would answer her prayers when the time came--if it came. Vincent had not yet responded to her request.

It was true, the red-cloaked man appeared utterly frozen in place, poised before Lir like a giant cat stalking his prey. The resemblance was enhanced by the metallic claw that had, only moments before, been wrapped around her throat. Vincent was now flexing the inorganic hand, like he was just itching to use it. Lir swallowed thickly; he could very easily rent her body with a few quick swipes. Her life was in his hands--and it wasn't a good feeling.

Vincent's red gaze bore into her, the fire tearing apart every outer barrier she had ever erected, prodding her with silent questions. Lir saw the distrust that lay there, and the disbelief. His face was unerringly close to hers; he hadn't moved far when he had gotten off of her. There was fire and heat all around her, although whether it was from his body or from the fire behind him, Lir couldn't be sure. The only thing that her frantic mind could fathom was the fact that Vincent was still easily within arm's reach. If Lir were to stretch out her hand, she would have encountered the hem of his red garment. Although the circumstances were dire, her thoughts wandered. She suddenly found herself wondering what the red fabric shielding his face and body would feel like. They looked like wool, which would mean they would be rough, but she couldn't be sure…

"What must I do to pay for Lucrecia's life?" Lir jumped at the sound of Vincent's voice and forcefully put her thoughts back on track. Vincent's voice was calmer now, but his resonating tenor was still as frozen as winter's eve. It was sending shivers up Lir's spine and although she didn't draw it, she unconsciously gripped the fan on her right.

"As I said before, demons have appeared on the Planet," Lir began somewhat haltingly in an effort to force a note of calm into her voice that she didn't feel. "They are terrorizing the population. Many of the places that you were familiar with in your time are already gone: Rocket Town, Gongaga, Gold Saucer, Fort Condor, Kalm. Others are falling by the day."

Vincent raised his good hand for silence and Lir immediately stalled her explanation. His eyes still hadn't left her. "And what exactly do these demons have to do with a little girl?"

/Little girl!/ The comment succeeded in raising some of Lir's anger and forced away the fear. "I am the daughter of Lord Niragai of Wutai and this problem has everything to do with me! Last night, a demon calling himself Tibora managed to breach Wutai's defenses and made it into the palace. My father was killed and my brother was left gravely wounded!"

Vincent shrugged. "So I take it that it is this Tibora you are after. Is it your wish that I kill him?"

"No!" Lir said forcefully. And to think, only moments ago she had been quaking in terror. Now, here she was screaming at a half-demonic man who was just about ready to separate several limbs from her body. There was a little voice in the back of her mind that was urging her to remain calm. It was telling her that provoking Vincent was a bad idea, but she never did listen to that voice's good reason when it decided to speak. "I think I can handle Tibora on my own…"

Vincent waved off the comment, effectively cutting her off again. Lir couldn't read the expression in his eyes, but couldn't place his reaction to her declaration. His voice was no help either; it remained a monotone. "Fine, I have no problem leaving the demon to you, but what exactly do you want me to do?"

Lir stood up, needing to get away from his body. Perhaps if she were further away, she wouldn't feel as uneasy. "I need a guide. Because of the raids, I have rarely left Wutai and I don't know anything about the lands beyond the walls except for what I was told by my father, brother, and some history books." Lir caught Vincent's eyes as they narrowed, the red orbs flickering over her slim form and eventually falling to the fans at her sides. It wasn't the first time she had received that look. She could read that one very easily; it was the same look many Wutaian warriors had before she none too politely slashed them to pieces. "Don't worry, I /can/ fight; I don't need your protection. I just need you to get me to Tibora."

"Of course." Vincent got up then and Lir once again found herself in a diminutive position. He was a tall man; she would be lucky if her head reached his shoulder. It didn't take much for the cloaked man to make her feel inferior, and Lir knew that he wasn't even trying.

"So, where exactly is this Tibora?" Vincent continued. "I assume you know of his whereabouts seeing as you look like you were ready to go after him yourself."

Heat rose in Lir's cheeks. That was one of her problems--she didn't know where to find the demon lord. Well, it wouldn't do to lie to him. "I am sorry to say that I have no idea where Tibora can be found," she managed, forcing the words through her clenched teeth. "If he were any other kind of demon, I'd say that he could be found anywhere on the continent of Wutai, but he isn't--he's a Daracon." Vincent shot her a confused glare and Lir immediately elaborated. "Daracons are winged demons who are capable of flying long distances. Therefor, Tibora could be pretty much anywhere on the Planet."

Vincent didn't seem to like the comment, but he didn't say anything accusatory about it. "And do you have any idea of how to go about finding this demon?" His voice was soft and level. In Lir's experience, when someone said something in that manner, it meant that they were angry, but it didn't seem that way with Vincent; the man was calm.

"I'm not sure, but I think we might find the answer in Junon." Lir replied, attempting to keep her voice just as level; to her amazement, she actually succeeded. She had not initially thought of where she was going to go once she left Wutai, but now that the subject had been brought up, Junon made perfect sense.

"Junon?"

"Yes. The harbor-city is one of the most heavily defended fortifications on the Planet and many of the larger military operations against the demon race take place there. If anyone has information regarding Tibora's whereabouts, I'd think it would be them."

"And they'd give you this information?"

Yet another problem, but not a baffling one. "Junon is huge," Lir began. "It's a lot bigger than it was when you were last there. Even if we can't get a hold of military information, there's still a lot we can learn on the streets. It would take awhile, but we could get it."

For a moment, Vincent didn't say anything. He stood with his back to the fire, his clawed left hand digging into his hip; he appeared to be considering her plan, sketchy as it was. Finally, "It's a descent plan, at least to start out with, but you should have thought this through more first before leaving."

Lir felt herself blush again; how had he known about her lack of planning? And why was he reprimanding her?--it wasn't like he cared about her well being.

She must have looked shocked. "It's written all over your face and has been ingrained in your mannerisms. Also, it fits with your story. If the demon attack happened last night, there is no way you could have had time to fashion a complete plan; I'm surprised you have an outline."

What was he, a mind reader too now? She wanted to come up with a swift retort, but couldn't think of one; damn the man for being right. "Do you have any better ideas?" /If so, I won't object to hearing them./

"Is Cosmo Canyon still standing?" Vincent asked.

/Cosmo Canyon--why?/ "As far as I know it is."

"Then I think that that should be our next destination. If memory serves me correctly, they tend to have all kinds of information down there and it's a lot closer than Junon. If we can't find anything there, we can always head to the harbor-city later."

Lir smirked. The way he was talking--"So, I suppose you've decided to accompany me."

"You can't do this on your own." Vincent moved away from the fire and began making his way toward the cave's exit, but he stopped before taking the final step out into the pouring rain outside; the clouds which had provided covering for her before had blown into an all out storm since Lir had entered. "I have one final question," Vincent asked, as if suddenly thinking of something. "Why did you choose me?"

A good question, too bad it didn't have an answer--not a clear one at any rate. "I didn't choose you per say," Lir said, choosing her words carefully as she made her way over to him. "Originally, I had planned on doing this on my own, but I ran into an old priestess just before making it outside the gates. I though for sure that my quest was finished before it even commenced, but the old woman didn't say a thing about me leaving; she only suggested that I come to the shrine and pray for help. I don't know why you were summoned, Vincent." Lir paused. "I spent over an hour looking through the sutras kept here in this temple and I was about to give up when I spotted the one that eventually summoned you."

Lir stopped again, but this time, she raised her head to meet her new companion's eyes, bringing jade to clash with flame. "I don't know what made me call you. All I know is that I opened the scroll and started reading the words, but I don't regret it. I do need your help Vincent Valentine." She tried to put all of her earnest sincerity into the connection, urging her new partner to understand.

Their eyes remained locked for a few moments more than she had planned, however, and Lir became increasingly aware of the heat radiating off his body. Once again, he was very close, too close for her to be comfortable. Lir knew that she was shaking and if she hadn't been burning up, she would have thought the storm beyond the cave walls had seeped into her bones--was she afraid of him?

Apparently, Vincent wasn't so comfortable with the close proximity himself because he turned away quickly enough to cause Lir to draw in a quick snatch of breath before moving out into the rainy night. "Come, on," he called from outside. "We have one more trip to Wutai to make before we set out."

Lir blanched--she didn't particularly want to go back into the city for longer than she had to. Someone could easily catch sight of her. "Why?"

"Because at the moment, I have no weapon and although my claw can rend demon flesh just as well as any knife, I still prefer a gun," he replied simply. "I assume your weapons shop still carries such weapons; they were pretty standard in my time."

"Of course. Lead the way." And with that, Lir followed the cloaked man through the rain and down the path that led to the city.

The rain had let up a little since they had left the city limits, but Vincent had yet to get over the shock. Rain--how long had it been since he had last felt the cold grasp of such moisture? When was the last time he had felt anything at all? According to what he had gotten from his knew companion, it had been about two hundred years; a long time to be dead to the world. It explained why the breath rushing through his lungs felt so foreign though. He couldn't believe how much it hurt simply to breath; a body that had been dead for so long was not used to drawing in life-giving air. Even his skin was overly sensitive; he could feel every caress of wind, every movement in the air, every rock that passed beneath his foot--

The cool silver of the shortbarrel at his waist.

The gun was one of the few comforts he had left. It was something familiar in a world that had gone on without him. It wasn't the Death Penalty he craved for--for that gun was gone--but he knew the tiny firearm could pack quite a punch. Even though it was only a small handgun, Vincent remembered exactly what it could do to a beast at a hundred paces--it could demolish it. Many things had changed about Wutai since he had 'died,' but the quality of their weapons wasn't one of them.

And then there was the other thing that bothered him: the Planet had moved on and much had changed. Many of the cities that he had traveled through both as a Turk and as a member of Avalanche were either no longer standing or did not resemble in the least the cities that had been. Wutai, for instance--the western city had been a powerful nation before, but now it was more than just a few small bridges and roads dotted with houses; it was a regular metropolis. The city now stretched from the middle of the peninsula all the way back to the mountains, some of the houses even gracing those steep slopes. Businesses that had not been there before had sprung up like weeds: pubs, inns, teahouses, restaurants, and an open aired commons that looked like it was used as a market place. There was even a wall surrounding it all, encompassing even the few houses that stretched into the mountains. The palace, apparently, had also grown, although he had not had a chance to see it for himself. He had taken Lir's word on that.

And thus, there was problem number three: the current princess of Wutai. As far as Vincent concerned, she was a sheltered child who would likely only succeed in getting herself killed the moment she entered Tibora's lair; if not before. Yet, for some reason or another, she had the favor of her god. Vincent himself had never been one to believe in the old gods, in fact, most people he had known in his old life hadn't. In a world submerged in grief and heartache, how could a merciful god truly exist?--or perhaps the gods just weren't merciful, in which case he wouldn't want to worship them anyway.

It seemed like the Wutainese were the only people left who still leaned heavily on their god--the great Leviathan. Lir didn't much resemble her ancestor, one Yuffie Kisaragi, whom he had traveled with and, eventually, befriended. Lir appeared soft and controlled whereas Yuffie had been tough and wild, but if there was one point where their characters merged, it was in their faith in their serpent god.

As strongly as their belief was in their god however, Vincent had his doubts about its usefulness. It wasn't a god that had saved the Wutainese from complete destruction, but the people themselves and their resilient leaders. That was another thing Yuffie had been--a strong, capable leader. Who would have thought that such a carefree teenager could have such passion for her country and her home, no matter how much she professed her hate for it.

Vincent winced despite himself; these were all old memories. They were not necessarily painful, just lost as everything else was; they too belonged to another time.

Avalanche had split up after the Meteor incident, everyone going their separate ways, but seeing each other every so once in a while.

Cloud, the 'clone' of Sephiroth, had settled down with Tifa in Costa Del Sol. Although the two never married or had any children, they lived together comfortably for the rest of their lives, opening up a bar to replace Tifa's old Seventh Heaven. Some people had speculated that their lack of a permanent attachment was a result of a link Cloud still had to Aeris, but Vincent doubted that; it was clear that the two cared for each other, perhaps even loved each other. A more likely case would have been that the pair could not get passed that line between friendship to the something more than lovers. Another theory, one that belonged to Vincent alone (because it was also a problem for him), stemmed from Cloud's Jenova cells. Those cells, though Cloud did not have as many in his body as Vincent did, prolonged his life--by a good eighty years. Unlike Vincent, Cloud had aged, but a great deal slower than his lover.

Red XIII, also known as Nanaki, returned to Cosmo Canyon. If there had been anyone in Avalanche that had been truly close to Vincent, it would have been Red XIII. The lion-like animal had befriended the silent man with his intelligence and overwhelming ability to listen with an unpartial ear. Being the curious creature that he was, Red XIII had gone about setting up a library at Cosmo Canyon, collecting the history of the Planet. It was an endeavor Vincent himself had contributed to, though minutely. It was also why he had suggested that Lir try looking for information about Tibora there.

Reeve, the creator of Cait Sithe, did as many Shinra employees did after Meteor struck--he moved on to Junon. Vincent hadn't seen much of the Shinra executive after they parted ways, though he did know that Reeve had accepted a position of President of Junon. The city had flourished under his leadership; it was a pity Shinra hadn't put him to better use.

Reeve wasn't the only member of Avalanche to take a city under his wing after the incident; Barrett and his daughter Marlene moved back to Correl. With mako no longer being mined for energy, the Planet once again had need of coal, and thus for Correl. Barrett couldn't have been happier.

Yuffie Kisaragi returned to Wutai, with most of Avalanche's materia. Her father Lord Godo, died within five years after Meteor's fall. Yuffie, much to everyone's surprise, had taken immediate control; she had led well, for Wutai had expanded under her care and once again became a strong, independent nation.

The final member of the group besides himself was Cid. Cid's story, unlike many of the other Avalanche members, ended quite easily. His dream of going into space had already come true and it didn't seem like anyone, much less the broken Shinra, would ever have enough money to get the space program up and running again, so he settled down in Rocket Town. Cid and Shera married and had two kids. Vincent had actually gotten around to seeing them once or twice.

As for Vincent himself, he wandered the globe. Even though he had been a member of Avalanche, except for the people of Cosmo Canyon (who were extremely open-minded about…unique people), he was not readily accepted anywhere on the Planet. His mangled body and blood red eyes often pushed people away. No one was ever outright rude to him, but all kept their distance. Thus, except for an extended stay with Red XIII, he never stayed in one place for too long. Vincent had spent his years watching as everyone he had ever cared about slipped away. By the time Cloud had died, the silent wanderer had circled the globe many a time; with his friend's death, he had decided that it was time to end his own life. Not able to die by natural means because of the excess of Jenova cells and mako in his body, Vincent had flung himself off one of Mount Nibel's tall peaks, effectively ending his existence. He had told everything to Red XIII before leaving. The lion hadn't said anything, he had only nodded, as if he had seen it coming. Perhaps he had--he was remarkably perceptive.

A growing discomfort that had been awakening in the back of his head since he left the cave suddenly flared, tossing Vincent from his thoughts. Apparently, death had not separated the demon from the man--Chaos was just beginning to awaken.

Great, just what he needed.

If Vincent was lucky, the demon would remain quiet for a few days until he had time to orient himself. Maybe that was why Lir had summoned him--a demon to fight a demon. The thought made him cringe.

Speaking of Lir. "How exactly did you plan to get off of this island?" Vincent asked. "I'd assume we'd go by Chocobo."

Lir's small form slowed until she was walking beside him. Despite the fact that they had left the city limits over an hour ago, she still spoke in a soft whisper. "No, the only chocobo ranch in Wutai is on the other side of the peninsula. If we go that way, we would be caught for sure. We're taking a skiff."

Vincent stared up at the darkened sky as another bolt of lightning streaked across the blackened night. "Are you sure that is wise? Water and thunderstorms generally don't mix."

Vincent's keen eyesight caught Lir's wince, despite the dim light. Yet another gift from Hojo and those mutated cells. "We don't have any other choice."

/Sure we do. I could transform into Chaos and carry you over. I'm sure he'll be awake in another half an hour or so./ But he would never voice that option. If Chaos didn't scare her, the flight would. Vincent knew enough by now that Chaos could be controlled--he was actually very rational for a demon--but he doubted Lir would trust the creature.

"So be it," he said finally, and followed her into the night.

Author's Comments: Hmm, short chapter, not a whole lot of action, but necessary none the less. The goal here was to cover some background information. The next chapter will have more action. As Vincent said, thunderstorms and water don't mix. Our two heroes will be getting a little wet next chapter…and it won't be from rain.

Also, I am currently looking for a beta reader. I always reread what I write, but there are times (like now), when I am so tired, that I don't always catch everything. If anyone is interested, please contact me. Thanks. And as always, read and review (it makes me happy).


	5. Over Rough Waters

DL Noleek

Child of the Serpent

Chapter 5: Over Rough Waters

Disclaimer: Do not own FF7.

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"Hundreds of years ago, sailors claimed that

The sea is full of foul creatures lurking beneath

The surf waiting to swallow any soul unfortunate enough

To touch the water's glass. Fortunately, humans

Are far more rational in this age--nothing hides

Beneath the waters of the world except small

Fish that are worth no more concern than

Dinner."

-Scarlet Heiron  
Weapons Chairman  
Shinra

A think fog had settled over the water like a blanket of smoke, tendrils twining around Lir's legs in thick masses and sending shivers up her spine. The bundles of moisture were cold and causing her dark hair to stick to her face in clumps. It made the sand hard, which she was thankful for--dry sand tended to make walking difficult, even in a pair of sturdy boots.

Lir had led the way down to the docks, but Vincent had immediately taken over once they reached the pier. The moment they were in view of the boats, the ex-member of Avalanche had moved ahead of her and began inspecting boats with the trained eye of a born sailor. Lir could not tell if the man actually knew what he was doing or not, but she did not bother to open her mouth in protest either; it was not like she knew a whole lot more about sailing one of the small skiffs. She had never stepped foot on a boat; she never left the island.

Until know that is.

Ever since they had left the cave, Lir's mind had been going through a whirl of emotions, ranging in everything from apprehension, to excitement, to worry. On the one hand, she was about to set out on a journey of unknown length with a strange man who was hundreds of years old to chase down demons that had destroyed her home and killed her father. There existed no one on the Planet who would not be scared stiff at the thought. But on the other hand, she was finally able to leave Wutai and see the rest of the world--it would have been an appealing prospect under different circumstances.

"I'm surprised; you've taken great care of these boats. They're all in good condition." Lir nearly jumped at the sound of Vincent's voice as she turned to look at him hunched over the last ship on the dock. It took a few deep breaths for her to get her heart to beat at a regular pace again.

/Is it going to be like this the entire trip? He may as well be a speck on the wall for all the noise he makes./ Lir sighed and began moving toward him. /It's going to be a long journey. Couldn't Leviathan have sent me anyone more sociable?/

Vincent was rummaging through the hull of one of the boats, moving stuff around while mumbling under his breath about supplies. "It looks like everything is here," he said. "We should be able to make it across before morning." He glanced upward, his red eyes carefully studying the intermediate shots of light in the sky. "That's assuming the storm doesn't hit before we make it."

Vincent paused. "Are you sure you want to try to make this tonight?"

Lir winced as she too gazed out across the horizon. She wished that he would stop differing to her decision--it made her uneasy to be placed in such a position of power. It would be a rough voyage, but they couldn't wait for the storm to clear. Her brother would know she was gone by first light when she did not appear that morning. If she was caught, they would never get another chance at escape.

"No, we have to move now," she replied. "Morning is too late."

As if in understanding, Vincent nodded, but said nothing and instead climbed into the boat and began adjusting ropes and sails. Lir had hoped for some kind of instruction from him, but none came, so she simply climbed into the boat and settled herself into the seat opposite of Vincent.

Vincent lifted up the lid to a chest on his side and after some more rummaging, he pulled out two oars. Lir stared at the rods of wood quizzically. What would they need oars for if they had a sail? "If the storm becomes too rough, we may have to row," he said at Lir's puzzled look.

"Row?" Lir asked. Leviathan, she must have sounded like a simpleton, but skiffs were powered by wind, not manpower--weren't they?

"If the wind becomes too strong, it can tear the mast right off the boat. We'll have to take down the sail and row for shore before that happens." After Vincent had the oars out, he set them near his feet and pulled out a rope from the same chest and tossed it to her. "Tie this to the riggers on the starboard side; we'll need it to hoist the sails."

Lir stared at the rope in her hands in confusion--riggers, starboard? Was this supposed to make any sense to her?

After several seconds, Vincent seemed to notice her aggravation and snatched the rope from her hands in a single clean swipe. Without saying anything, he went to a hook on her right and knotted the rope to it so that it was secured tightly in place. With that done, the sail above her was pulled taunt and immediately caught the wind.

Lir huffed at the simple act. He could have just told her what he wanted done. The man had an attitude the size of the island.

Vincent moved back to the other side of the boat and picked up one of the oars in his metallic hand. A knife suddenly appeared in its organic counterpart, quickly enough that Lir stared in startled wonderment. She had not even seen him draw it. Where had that come from? With one quick slash, Vincent tore through the rope that connected them to the dock and then replaced the knife inside his cape.

"Don't worry about steering the boat, I'll take care of it. Stay right where you are and out of the way, sleep if you want. I'll tell you when we arrive on the western continent." He pushed away from the dock with the oar, sending their tiny skiff out into the whitecaps. Lir immediately felt the boat role and she clenched the sides of the craft until the vessel was set. Until Vincent shifted the sail into the wind, she could have sworn they were going to capsize, but Vincent kept the boat steady and before she knew it, Wutai was disappearing amongst the mist.

So, she was completely useless was she? Lir considered that thought for a second and then sighed. It appeared so; she knew nothing about steering a boat and from the way Vincent was carrying on, it appeared that he did. Going one step further, she would most likely be useless for most of the trip--and she hated the feeling. In Wutai she was never a burden, but here she was good for nothing.

Lir winced--in Wutai. Already she was beginning to miss home. Suddenly, she felt like crying, she had not thought that she would have, but the tears were already beginning to prick her eyes. Well, she had longed to go out beyond Wutai's island, but not in this way. Lir had always secretly dreamed of a time when she would be able to explore the rest of the world, but it had never been in this manner. In her dreams, she was always with Shinn and Father. It was always daytime and the three of them were always laughing and smiling. In her dreams, she saw lakes and rivers that she had never set eyes on in the waking world, and met people she had never heard of before in her brief life. That world was full of unknown deserts and oceans, cities like Junon and Cosmo Canyon that she had only read about in books in the family's library.

In reality the skies were dark when she left. It was not on a grand ship that she left Wutai with her father and brother, but on a tiny skiff with a total stranger as her guide; a man who had been dead for over two hundred years. The demons were not gone and had taken her dream away; her father was dead now and Shinn had been mortally wounded. Instead of seeing the world in its glory, she was about to see in the clutches of a demon-infested hoard.

And she may powerless to stop them, but she would have to try anyway.

A cold wave of water washed over the edge of the boat and Lir found herself soaked within seconds. A clap of thunder pierced the air above them. Then the rain, which had been steady before, began to fall in sheets, the droplets falling sideways and freezing in mid-air to form tiny ice pellets that cut her cheek. Her gi had a hood in back and she immediately pulled her hair back and put the covering up. It didn't help much, but it was better than nothing.

Vincent pushed an oar to her and then took down the sail above her, allowing the rigging to cling against the empty mast. Lir didn't puzzle this time over the use of the equipment she had been handed. This time, she noticed the small notch to her right and imitating Vincent, she latched the oar into place.

The actual rowing was a different matter entirely. The oar was awkward in her hands and it took her a while to figure out the rhythm of the foreign motion, especially with the panic in her chest rising as quickly as the tide. At first her oar would miss the water completely and then it would go in too deep, making her effort a waste. Then, she realized that she was moving slower than Vincent and craning her neck around, she looked at his oar over the water. Despite the water's roughness, it was parallel over the water before it turned perpendicular for entry. It took some effort, but she figured out that by turning her right hand, she could get the oar to move in that pattern with some concentration--not a perfect stroke, but better.

Still, even with both of them rowing, the boat was fumbled through the water as if it were being tossed by clumsily by the hands of nymphs. "Vincent!" she yelled as loudly as she could over the squall. "This isn't working, what do we do?" After several more futile strokes of her oar with no answer, she turned around again, thinking that he had not heard her.

What she saw nearly made her drop her oar. Vincent had stopped rowing and was now doubled over in his seat, clutching his head as if he were in intense pain. His lips were moving despite clenched teeth, but Lir could not tell if he was trying to tell her something or if he was speaking to someone else, someone who did not exist. His red eyes were closed tightly and his face was contorted into a twisted shape. His oar lay in pieces at his side; his metal hand had shattered the wood into tiny splinters.

"Vincent!" she cried again, dropping her own oar to move over toward him. She was almost at his side when he suddenly stood up and let out a howl that had her skin crawling. His form loomed over her like imminent death and although she tried to scream, she could not get a sound past her prone lips. Lir was not immobile for long. Another howl sent her scrambling back towards the other side of the boat.

"Vincent, please! Please stop!" Lir knew that her voice was panicked--knew equally well that it shouldn't be--but she didn't care. Fear rose in her chest and she thought to reach for her fans, but another pitch of the boat sent her flying into the other end of the vessel. There was a sharp pain in the back of her head and a load cracking of wood sounded behind her as the world went dismally black for a second before her vision returned again. Vincent's form loomed over her, his crimson eyes gazing down at her as if he were to tear her apart. Suddenly, Lir found herself looking not at the face of a man, but at that of a monster--and she screamed.

Lir reached for the edge of the edge of the boat, but found only empty air as it pitched once again. The same role caused Vincent to stagger back as if drunk and gave Lir the chance to try to move away. And it might have worked too--had the vessel not swayed a second time.

The second pitch jolted Lir off her feet and she once again tried to reach for solid wood, but came up with nothing as she hit the water at full force. Pain rushed through her body as liquid briefly flooded her lungs, her flailing arms barely keeping her head above water. Despite her struggles, Lir could feel her body freezing as the cold bled through her thick gi like a sponge soaking up water, slowing her limbs until she wore herself out and sank beneath the surface of the raging sea.

Vincent had noticed Lir turning her head around as soon as she locked the oar into place and he slowed down slightly so that she could catch the movements he was making. It took several tries but she caught on quickly. Vincent had always had a firm dislike for those who had lived a sheltered life; ever since his days as a Shinra lab rat, he had found such people disgusting.

This girl could not possibly be any different. It was clear that the Planet had chosen her as its savior this time, but as to why, he could not begin to fathom. He stared at her back as she struggled with the oar, her small muscles flexing underneath her gi, fair skin showing a tint of red from exertion. The delicate skin on her hands would be marred in all new places tomorrow morning after their row.

Although he had noticed the fan strapped to Lir's waist, he had yet to see her actually use it as a weapon. It was clear that they were made of metal, but it may as well have been nothing more than a lady's paper adornment from where he was sitting. Vincent held no guesses as to her fighting ability or her magical aptitude, though judging by the assortment of low-level materia he had caught sight of on the bangle of her mithrel guard, the latter was not much.

The rocking of the boat threw him from his thoughts and his eyes jerked for the thousandth time to the dark sky above, brief flicks of lighting turning the sky a light green like light reflecting of an emerald. Damn, making it to shore was doubtful. If the storm got any worse they would have to stop and try to ride it out--not a joyful prospect.

A jolt of pain from his head caused Vincent to wince and in the recesses of his mind, he heard the low growl of a feral beast. His hands automatically took a firmer grip on the oar handle and he ground his teeth together in an effort to block out the demon within him that was beginning to awaken.

His efforts were no avail. Chaos emerged with a burst of pain and Vincent was forced to release his hands and grab his head in an attempt to keep the demon from taking over completely. If Chaos were to dominate him now…

__

Chaos calm down. Please, you can not be released yet! He told the demon mentally, hoping to clam the creature's rage. As unlikely as mere talk was to work, it was the only thing he could do--chancy, but not without merit.

The monster's response was immediate and deafening. _Where am I? Let me out!_

Holy but it was painful. Vincent's body shuddered as he dropped down to the deck of the boat, clutching his head and covering his ears in a vain attempt to block out the sound of the voice. The roar reverberated within his head, but he could not shut it out. There was no force on earth that could silence Chaos in his anger. He may as well stop a hurricane.

Suddenly, he noticed that Lir had turned around and she had a panicked look on her face. Her lips were moving and Vincent guessed that she was screaming his name, but her words could not reach him over the deafening roar of the voice inside his head.

__

I do what the voices inside my head tell me to… Vincent thought ironically, almost laughingly. Holy of all the times for that small drop of humor to kick in. He'd blame Cid for it later.

His vision reeled as he shifted perspectives, his normally sharp eyesight now picking up heat as well as light. Smell and hearing were also kicked up a notch and Vincent was now able to detect Lir's fear; she smelled of sweat and her heart was beating erratically. He had a strong urge to tear that beating organ from her chest, to reach beneath that pale flesh and drag his claws through her to her heart chamber until…

Vincent released an anguished scream, a howl that echoed over the ocean. Inwardly, he tried to override the demon, attempted to get control over his vocal chords to tell Lir to run, but he couldn't--and Lir had no where to run.

The boat gave another jolt and Vincent felt himself lifted into the air and thrown back into the bow of the boat. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Lir's small body as it was hurled overboard. He would have liked nothing more than to jump in after her; after all, she was his charge and his way to redemption, but he could not keep Chaos in check long enough to do that.

With Lir's inadvertent plunge into the sea, Vincent pulled back and allowed Chaos his release. He never knew what he looked like when he transformed, couldn't have said which body part morphed first. To him, it was all one big shock. It was like his skin turned inside out. Bones did not break during his transformation, they shattered. And once the transformation was complete, Vincent Valentine was nothing more than a shadow behind the mind of a monster.

Chaos stretched his leathery wings to their full extension and not caring about the girl who had just sunk beneath the waves, he climbed into the sky, heading above the clouds and towards the western continent.

__

It's strange, Lir thought. _One can never hear one's heartbeat until it stops._

The cold that had permeated her body only moments before had faded and there was no more pain. She could not say that she was warm and comfortable, just impartial. She almost laughed; she felt giddy. To think, only moments before she had been cold! Before, Lir thought she could see the dim light from the surface, darkness had quickly set in, blinding her to her surroundings. She was light, weightless as she floated through a black haze. What a great feeling!

The only thing she was conscious of was the insistent burning on her chest where she had placed one of her fans beneath her gi. She began to focus on that searing heat by her left breast and suddenly, there was another feeling; there were two arms encircling her waist, pulling her into a firm chest. She was held there for a moment, locked into place by that strong presence. Only one thought drifted into her mind, a strange mental state that should have shocked her and didn't--safe.

Lir felt the presence behind her shift. One hand remained around her--the other drifted up into her hair and near her brow, stroking her in long, soothing motions. Had she breath, she would have sighed. It felt so good! The hand caressing her was soft and strong, long fingers threading through her hair as carefully as if the strands were silk. Then those fingers drifted lower to her cheek and left ear, gently rubbing, soothing.

Warm breath caressed her brow and a feather-light kiss was pressed to her temple, a presence as soft as a butterfly's wing beat. Those same lips neared her ear, and that breath began to whisper gentle, soothing sounds.

Then the voice spoke. "I'm sorry Lir, we can't let you go so easily. This earth still yearns for your presence and strength." Lir shuddered at the voice--it was a rich, young, tenor, and somehow familiar, like a sound from a loved but forgotten childhood dream. She suddenly wished that she could hear that voice sing because somehow, she knew that it could--and it would be glorious!

"You have a long way to go," said the voice. "But do not worry, for I shall guard you while I yet exist in this plane." His fingers stopped and he pulled her in closely one more time. "I wish we had more time--perhaps at a later date. For now, your body desperately needs air."

He released her entirely then, "I shall call Umi to take you to the surface now."

Lir slowly opened her eyes and received the shock of her life. There was a reptilian face not four inches from her nose with very sharp looking teeth. The creature could have been a light blue snake had it not been for the pair of purple fins where arms might have been and a pair of equally violet translucent wings sticking out of its back, spreading through the water like rays of dark sunshine. Despite its intimidating size, the creature was gentle; it nudged her chest lightly, which was still burning faintly, and Lir wound her arms around its nose like a child just risen from sleep clinging to its mother's neck.

It was a leviathan--the dragon of the sea. Lir could do nothing but stare at the beast as her vision began to fade once again. Behind her, she heard a snapping sound and in that same instant, the dragon spun beneath her and caught her up. As the world faded once again to nothingness, she felt her body begin to rise.

The dragon was returning her to the land of the living.

Vincent had awoken in human form against a rock on the beach. As usual, there were no signs to show that he had ever transformed. The only remembrance of his other form were a few stiff muscles and a crick in his neck from spending last several hours or so sleeping against a rock. The sand had not proved to be the best bed he'd ever had and he had spent the evening cold, wet, and shivering. Tiny white grains clung to every inch of him, coating his clothing, hair, and face, and stuffing the inside of his boots.

The gunman groaned as he sat up all the way. When Hojo had first merged his entity with Chaos, he had transformed wildly, never remembering what he had done as the monster. The metamorphosis had gotten better over time as he and Chaos fell into an odd form of coexistence, but the transformation last night had regressed back to one of those early times.

Vincent briefly closed his eyes and began to check for Chaos' presence. The demon was still there, of course, but Vincent relaxed slightly when he found the creature's mental patterns dormant; whatever had happened the night before had forced him to expel enough energy to put him to sleep for the time being.

Peachy.

A black dot on the shoreline just at the water's edge caught his eye. Only then did he remember Lir. With a calm grace, he made his way over to the water and knelt down beside the fallen girl. Her body, like his, was covered in sand and soaking wet. Her black hair, which had been unbound before her fall into the sea, hung in clumps around her body, the saltwater causing it to dry in thick ropes. She must have been cold, because her body was shaking violently and her breath was coming in short gasps through cracked lips.

With about as much care as he would give to a throw pillow, he gathered her up in his arms and began moving her away from the reaching tide. A fire and a little bit of rest would find her ready to continue in no time.

Author's Note: First of all, big thanks to the following for reviewing:

shamandra

blackmagic 

Cattibrie393

Chels 

Emri

I was actually going to put this story on hold for awhile and work on something else, but since people seem to be interested, I guess I'll continue. Thanks, I hope you enjoy.

Keep reviewing and I'll keep writing!


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